Ben Ratliff

Ben Ratliff is a Clinical Associate Professor at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. He has taught criticism and nonfiction writing at NYU’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute and Columbia University’s School of the Arts. His expertise spans popular music, cultural criticism, journalism, and creative nonfiction. Ratliff has authored four influential books, including Every Song Ever (2016) and Coltrane: The Story of a Sound (2007), which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. He received a 2018 Grammy nomination for his album notes on Sonny Clark’s The 1960 Time Sessions.

His work appears in Granta, Slate, The New York Times, and other publications. Ratliff’s research emphasizes listening practices, the evolution of cultural criticism, and the intersection of music with broader cultural narratives.